


infinitessimal

by chidorinnn



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, not VLR-compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 15:44:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4570164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chidorinnn/pseuds/chidorinnn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hongou chuckles, and it sends a shiver down Junpei’s spine. “You know, I’ve been wondering why you aren’t behind here with me,” he says, “since you did everything I did nine years ago.” Akane presses her lips together into a tight line. Junpei digs his nails into the palms of his hands. “You created the same scenarios, abducted people just as I did, killed–”</p><p>“That’s enough!” Junpei shouts, unable to contain himself any longer. “It’s not the same thing, and you know it!”</p><p>Hongou laughs again. “And what could you possibly know of this, boy? You weren’t even there.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	infinitessimal

The next time he sees her, they’re visiting the detention center together, both there for the same person. 

Akane looks exactly the same, and yet simultaneously she doesn’t look the same at all. She’s looks lighter, maybe, like a large weight has been lifted from her shoulders, but the cold, calculating gaze she wears almost perpetually now is nothing like the easy smiles she displayed earlier. 

It’s hard for Junpei to wrap his head around the fact that the girl before him – June, Akane, _Kanny_ – is a completely different person from the girl he’d loved as a child, the girl he’d supposedly reconnected with on that ship. _This is my fault_ , he thinks. _If only I hadn’t given her that doll, or if I’d gotten to her sooner..._

She doesn’t smile when she looks to him, probably after having noticed him long before he noticed her. The cold mask slips ever so slightly, and her head dips into a nod. 

(If he stops thinking, he can see her as she was nine years ago, a terrified child with tears streaming down her face, the seconds to her imminent death ticking away...)

“Uh...” Junpei says with an awkward smile and an even more awkward wave. “Hey.” She waves back, cold and stiff but not awkward. Maybe this is the Akane that Santa – _Aoi_ – knew, Junpei thinks – so very broken, and yet simultaneously so unbreakable. Maybe she didn’t know he was coming, or maybe she did and came anyway. Akane seems to know everything there is to know, after all.

“Are you, um... How are you doing?” It’s a stupid question, he quickly realizes – one she can’t possibly answer.

Thankfully, a guard comes to them before she can say anything and leads them deeper into the detention center.

Ace – Gentarou Hongou sits behind a glass pane, his hands folded neatly in his lap and a serene smile painted on his face. There’s no recognition in his eyes as Junpei and Akane sit before him, but his smile widens. “So,” he says slowly, his voice rough and biting to Junpei’s ears, “you finally decided to pay a visit.”

Akane sits perfectly still, her legs crossed and her hands clasped tightly together. Her stoic mask seems more pronounced now, but perhaps that is more telling than if she were to burst into tears or start screaming at him.

“I’m not going to apologize for what I did,” Hongou says. 

“I wasn’t expecting you to,” Akane replies.

Hongou chuckles, and it sends a shiver down Junpei’s spine. “You know, I’ve been wondering why you aren’t behind here with me,” he says, “since you did everything I did nine years ago.” Akane presses her lips together into a tight line. Junpei digs his nails into the palms of his hands. “You created the same scenarios, abducted people just as I did, _killed_ –”

“That’s enough!” Junpei shouts, unable to contain himself any longer. “It’s not the same thing, and you know it!”

Hongou laughs again. “And what could you possibly know of this, boy? You weren’t even there.”

But he _was_. Without another word, Junpei bolts out of his chair, yanking Akane by the arm with him and leaving without another word. It isn’t until they’re out of the detention center, halfway across the street that he can finally start to calm down. Akane’s arm feels thin and fragile in his, like it will shatter into a million pieces if he presses any harder. 

“He was right, you know,” she says, too calm and too poised. “We’re the same, he and I.”

“No you’re not!” Junpei shouts because it is all that he can do. 

Akane’s laugh is hollow and brittle, but perhaps more genuine than anything he’d heard from her on that ship. “We did recreate the same game. Endanger the same number of people. Destroy lives just because–”

“Because you were going to die!” His hands are on her shoulders, and she feels the same as she did on that ship. Akane doesn’t try to fight him off. “What would have happened if you hadn’t done this? You... that... I...” 

 _I wouldn’t have gotten to you in time_ , Junpei leaves unsaid.

She smiles at him, and it’s like he’s seeing her for the first time. “You’re a good person, Jumpy,” she says. 

She brings her hands up to his biceps and slowly, gently pushes his hands off her shoulders. The cold mask slips back on – or perhaps it had never left in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, Junpei steels his resolves. “Do you want to get lunch with me?” She tilts her head to the side, but her expression doesn’t change. “I mean... you have time now, right?”

The smile she gives him is brighter than anything he has ever seen. “Yeah... I have all the time in the world.”


End file.
